Democrats have a political death wish. At least that’s how it looks. There’s no other explanation for their feverish push to take over the health care system when a huge majority of Americans are opposed to the plan. But facing an angry public, Democrats are scheming to find ways to manipulate the electoral process so they can cling to power even when voters want to kick the bums out.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, and Rep. Barney Frank, Massachusetts Democrat, have plans to ram through legislation that will produce universal voter registration. No matter what they claim, the rule changes will make it possible for illegal aliens to register to vote and for others to register multiple times.

The proposal is to register everyone on every welfare list, everyone getting unemployment insurance, everyone with a driver’s license, everyone who has had run-ins with the legal system, everyone owning any property - basically everyone on every list the government keeps. People will be registered to vote whether or not they want to be registered. If individuals are on any public record, they will be automatically registered.

Obviously a lot of illegal aliens have driver’s licenses, and many get other government benefits. Quite a few have rap sheets. People’s names and other identification information are frequently recorded differently across these different lists, which means that one could be registered a separate time for every slight variation in how their personal information is kept on file.

The legislation is also expected to give felons the right to vote. Why Democrats insist on letting someone who has raped multiple women vote on social policy is beyond us. According to Democrats, robbers who have preyed on helpless victims - and even murderers - have the judgment to tell us how law enforcement should be run in this country.

In May 2005, Public Opinion Strategies surveyed felons who had their voting rights restored and nonfelons who voted in Washington state. Even after accounting for the voters’ race, gender, education level, religious habits, employment, age and county of residence, the book Freedomnomics found that “felons were 36 percent more likely than nonfelons with the same characteristics to have voted for [John] Kerry [a Democrat] over [George W.] Bush [a Republican] and 37 percent more likely to be registered Democratic.”

For years, Democrats have fought against requiring photo IDs at polling places. The practice, which is simply a way to make sure voters are who they say they are, is used in about 100 other countries. Mexico, for example, has cracked down on voter fraud and is strict about requiring photo identification to vote. If Democrats have their way, it will be easier for Mexicans to vote in America than in their own country.

It speaks volumes about Democratic unpopularity that they have to look to criminals and illegal aliens to try to shore up their voting base.